This is impossible
by Miriel Jex
Summary: "Ok, look, I swear, I have no idea how I got here. You have to believe me. It doesn't make any sense – unless – no way." "What? You got sucked into the movie?" "I wouldn't put it like that," she snapped before taking a breath. "But, in a world of aliens and Bifrosts and geniuses in flying suits, is it really very difficult to believe in interdimensional travel?" Rated T to be safe
1. Chapter 1

A.J. woke up groggily, her head pounding. She glanced around, taking in her surroundings, only to find that she had no idea where she was. The feeling of panic catching in her throat multiplied tenfold when she saw her right arm handcuffed to something at the top of the bed. She pulled on it, hoping it would just come off, before realizing how ridiculous that was. Suddenly the door opened, and an all too familiar man walked in – the dark skin, the eye patch, the long black coat: she knew this man. As he sat down, she started to recognize the compartment she was in.

 _This is impossible._

A gruff voice drew her focus back. "How did you get on board this ship?" Director Nicholas J. Fury demanded.

"I honestly have no idea," she offered with a sheepish smile. Needless to say, he wasn't amused.

"Is that so?"

"Yes. It doesn't matter, anyway, it's not like it's unusual."

"It's not unusual for you to wake up and not know how you got there?"

"Well, no, not in a dream. It's actually a defining feature."

"A dream?" he sighed, sitting down, examining her closely. "What makes you think this is a dream?"

"Because, no offense, but you're not real. You're a movie character."

"Ok. Let's try something else. When we first found you, we couldn't get close – the five foot radius around you was 100 degrees Fahrenheit over room temperature. Any ideas why this would be?"

"Funky dream stuff?"

"You're completely convinced this is a dream?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, waking up on what I guess would be a SHIELD helicarrier, random heat around me, you showing up from a movie I was just watching – it can't be real. And I'm not that crazy. It could be a massive prank, but I don't know anybody who could get Samuel L. Jackson."

"The guy from Star Wars?"

"Mace Windu, yeah. He also plays you in the movies." He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're a very good liar."

"No, I'm really not. I'm horrible at it, trust me. I just happen to be telling the truth."

"Then let's test that theory. If you're really dreaming, then you won't feel pain."

"Go for it," she shrugged, and he pinched her arm, hard.

"Ow!" she exclaimed; then her eyes widened in shock. "No, no, no, no. This is impossible. This is completely impossible." She leaned back and ran her hand over her face. "Ok, look, I swear, I have no idea how I got here. You have to believe me. It doesn't make any sense – unless – no way."

"What? You got sucked into the movie?"

"I wouldn't put it like that," she snapped before taking a breath. "But, in a world of aliens and Bifrosts and geniuses in flying suits, is it really very difficult to believe in interdimensional travel?"

"I suppose not. You do seem to be telling the truth." He considered for a moment before leaning over and unlocking the handcuffs. "But if you're lying, you will regret it."

"Understood. Hang on," she said, realizing something she'd missed. "Didn't you burn your eyepatch?"

"What? Why would I do that?"

"Because you faked-" she quickly clamped her mouth shut. "What year is it?"

"2012."

"2012! That's the first Avengers movie! Wait! What month?"

"May. What is it in your dimension?"

"January. 2016. So I'm from a future dimension. Weird."

"How many Avengers movies are there in four years?

"Technically just two, but there's also Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and Captain America 2. So I know the future?"

"It would seem so. What's your name?"

"A.J. Keller. And I know who you are, Director Fury."

"Good. With me."

He stood up and opened the compartment door. She hopped off the bed, following him. The cool hallways of the helicarrier were familiar to her, but they'd never been this real. SHEILD personnel walked and jogged past her to fulfill their duties as she hurried to keep up with Fury's long stride.

"So, what's been happening so far? Fill me in," she requested.

"Loki arrived and grabbed the Tesseract around 0200 hours last night. We're bringing in Rogers and Banner, and hopefully Stark," he glanced at A.J. and she nodded.

"He'll come, on his own time. You know how he is," she answered his unspoken question as they stepped onto the bridge. Natasha and Hill immediately ceased their conversation. Both of their expressions were distrustful, but Natasha's was petrifying. A.J. glanced to the side uncomfortably and spotted the agent playing Galaga. She smiled slightly to herself, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Something funny, Keller?" Fury asked.

"No, sir, sorry," she replied quickly, and he raised an eyebrow.

"I'd like you to meet Agents-"

"Romanoff and Hill," she finished for him. "Sorry."

"How do you know us?" Natasha asked distrustfully, but she looked to Fury.

"Miss Keller's from an alternate dimension, which apparently has movies about us."

"Really?" Hill asked. "How'd you get here?"

"No idea. But it means I know your future, so I'm guessing I'm sticking around."

"That's enough for now. Romanoff, I need to meet Rogers' quinjet. He's just landed. Hill, loan Keller your tablet so she can get her questioned answered. Jot down some of the next upcoming events while you're at it," Fury ordered, and the three women were quick to obey. A.J. flipped through the Internet and SHIELD records, looking up various things, as well as becoming accustomed to the higher technology. She got distracted, however, when she felt the four engines starting up. She hurried front to the big window and watched the ocean fall away. After a few minutes, she was called back to the bridge by Fury's order to Hill to vanish.

"This is awesome," she observed out loud to no one in particular.

"You can say that again," a voice agreed a few feet from her.

"Captain Rogers! Hi, I'm A.J. Keller," she introduce herself.

"Nice to meet you. You're not a SHIELD agent, are you?" he asked, shaking her hand.

"Not remotely, no," she smiled.

"Rogers! Keller!" Fury called, and the two headed back to him, Steve handing him a $10.

"Captain Rogers, Dr. Banner, this is A.J. Keller. She's – our secret weapon."

"Which means what exactly?" Dr. Banner asked. Fury nodded to her.

"Basically, I'm from an alternate universe a few years in the future where you don't exist but movies about you do."

"An alternate universe? How did you get here?" She could see the scientist in him working hard.

"From the heat signature around me when I landed, a lot of energy. I'm afraid that's all I know. My interdimensional travel wasn't exactly on purpose. One moment I'm at home, watching the _Avengers_ , the next I'm living it."

"Fascinating. Have you-"

"I'm afraid we have more pressing matters, Dr. Banner," Fury interrupted him. "Unless Keller already knows where the Tesseract is."

"I know where Loki is, not the Tesseract. Or where he will be."

"Will telling us drastically change the course of the future?" Fury asked.

"I don't think so. You were going to catch him anyway. No, it's ok. He'll be in Stuttgart, Germany, at an event tonight. String quartet, lots of marble, opens out onto a square. He's after a scientist who works with iridium – to stabilize the Tesseract so he won't have a repeat of the last site. But Loki won't have it with him. Dr. Banner should still work on getting a scanner up."

"Good. Hill, show Dr. Banner to his lab. Captain, you're up. Keller, you're with him."

"Wait, what?" she was dumbstruck. "I'm going to Stuttgart?"

"Yes. Problem?"

"Uh, kinda. Loki's cool on screen and everything, but in person? No way. I was really hoping to avoid him."

"Sorry, Keller, but I need your expertise on the ground. Tell Rogers everything you know and anything that comes up last minute, then stay out of the way."

"What about Nat? I mean, Agent Romanoff?" she glanced over at her apologetically.

"Hey, you can call me Nat if I can call you A.J.," she smiled.

"Really? Awesome," A.J. smiled back.

"Romanoff will be going with you. On the way, she'll show you the ropes."

"Come on, kid, this is gonna be good. Captain, we'll meet you in the hangar bay."


	2. Chapter 2

The next few hours were amazing. Nat started training A.J. as soon as they were in the air. Soon she knew how to throw a punch, and take one – maybe not the most amazing, but important. Kicks followed quickly after punches, and before she knew it, she was semi-well-versed in hand-to-hand combat and in Stuttgart.

When they landed in the army base in the city, it was still light out. Leaving Nat and Cap behind, she set out on a recon mission to confirm that the Schlossplatz was the correct location and to let Nat know when Loki arrived.

And so began a much more boring period of time as she watched and waited. It didn't help that she was nervous about Loki's upcoming appearance, but she stayed strong, standing in the square, searching for any sign of him. She lost track of time, but eventually she heard screams coming from inside the building opposite her.

"Nat, I got a disturbance here," she reported through her comm.

"Is it Loki?" she asked as people began streaming out towards her.

"I think so. Wait, it's him, I can see him now." And there he was, as large as life and terrifying and absolutely striking, using magic to put on his armor.

"Ok, get out of there, A.J."

She didn't have to be told twice. Knowing that he would be going straight into the square, she tried to hurry to the side, but the floods of people pushed her back. She heard the sirens and saw the blast and began to fight harder to get out of the way – she knew she was running out of time. But it was no use: she was quickly boxed in by Loki's copies, and a familiar voice yelled out across the crowd a single command: "Kneel!"

At that point, she did one of the stupidest things she had ever done – she stayed standing. All around her, people were obeying, kneeling, but she couldn't, or maybe just wouldn't, she honestly didn't know. She did know that she could probably do without the stubborn, defiant streaking showing itself in her at that moment.

It didn't take long for Loki's eyes to catch hers as they swept the crowd, and the grin on his face to turn deadly.

"What do you think you're doing, mortal?" he asked, his eyes feeling as if they pierced to her soul.

"Standing," she replied. She hadn't meant to sound so smart-aleck-y, but it was accurate.

"On your knees, girl," he said, pointing his scepter at her. She glanced from the tip of it back to his face, and his grin widened, recognizing her fear.

"A.J., what are you doing?" she heard Nat ask through the comm, but still she stood.

"Look around you, pet," Loki commanded as he began to stalk towards her, his eyes trained on hers. "All the other mortals kneel before me. And is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

By now, he stood directly in front of her, studying her, his eyes scanning every inch of her body. She tried to convince herself that her heart pounded solely out of fear. She knew the next line, but her voice caught in her throat. Thankfully, she didn't have to say it. She heard a rustle of movement behind her at the same time her straining ears caught the quiet hum of the quinjet's engines.

"Not to men like you," an old voice said.

"There are no men like me," Loki scoffed. Before the man had a chance to reply, however, Cap's shield came whistling out of nowhere, knocking Loki to the ground before rebounding back to Cap.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany," he said, jumping down from the fountain, "and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

"The soldier," Loki laughed as he regained is footing. "The man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time," he returned.

At this point, A.J. knew what was coming, and she hurried to get people out of the way as Nat's voice came from the quinjet's PA system. She kept one eye on the fight, though, as she helped others to the sidelines. It wasn't until she heard AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" playing that she gave her full attention to her task. Satisfied that any injuries were being handled by EMTs, she began to turn back to the quinjet when she caught sight of a body being wheeled out of the building, a lot of blood on the right side of the head. She ignored her turning stomach and hurried on her way.

Cap was waiting for her on the quinjet ramp. "Is everyone ok?" he asked her.

"Of course, she's with SHIELD." She recognized Loki's voice but chose to ignore it.

"Mostly. That scientist is dead, though," she informed Cap. He grabbed her arm and lead her a few paces farther from Loki.

"What was that?" he demanded quietly, and she let out a huff of air. She couldn't say she hadn't been expecting this.

"Look, I tried to get away, but it was like a stampede out there, and I wasn't about to listen to some psycho."

"He's not some psycho, A.J., he's dangerous."

"I know that, better than you do at this point."

"And what does that mean, exactly?" Loki's voice cut in to your conversation, but you ignored him again and crossed to the front of the quinjet.

"Ignore me all you want, darling, it won't make me ignore you," he chuckled.

"Leave her alone, Rudolph," Stark shut him up before offering her his hand. "Tony Stark."

"A.J. Keller," she shook his hand as they lifted off.

"Why are you here? You're not an agent," he remarked, confused.

"Not in front of the prisoner," Nat interrupted.

"What, you don't want me to know that she's clairvoyant?" Loki asked.

"I'm not clairvoyant," A.J. stated.

"But you do know things that you shouldn't be able to," he replied with a grin.

"Don't engage him, A.J., he'll just mess with you," Nat instructed.

"Oh, but it's so much fun," Loki pretended to pout.

"Don't worry," she said, walking to the far side of Nat's seat, "high school got me good at ignoring people."

Before long, Nat patched in to the helicarrier and the director's comm.

"Agent Romanoff, report," came his gruff voice.

"Sir, we have Loki on board," Nat said.

"Is he saying anything?"

"Besides a couple of jabs at A.J., not a word."

"Just get him here, we're low on time."

A.J. waited for Cap and Tony to start talking before telling Nat what was coming next, hoping their conversation would cover what she needed to say.

"Nat, you should know," she whispered, "Thor's going to show up pretty soon. He's going to try to get Loki to tell him where the Tesseract is." Nat nodded, and A.J. turned her attention back to the men.

"What's your thing, pilates?" Tony was asking.

"What?" Cap said.

"It's like calisthenics," Tony explained. "You may have missed a few things, doing time as a Capsicle."

A.J. chuckled, and Tony sent her an appreciative smile.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in," Cap stated.

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you," Tony remarked as thunder crashed around them. Loki leaned forward, looking up toward the sky.

"What's the matter?" Cap asked him. "Scared of a little lightening?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki told him.

Thor landed hard on the roof, sending those not strapped in tumbling. Tony slid on his mask and opened the quinjet ramp.

"What are you doing?" Cap called as Thor swaggered in, hitting Tony before his thrusters could warm up enough to fire. He dragged Loki up and was off again.

"A. J., you could have mentioned he was gonna grab him!" Nat yelled.

"Sorry!" A.J. called back as Stark took off, and she caught the parachute Cap threw her.

"I'd sit this one out, you two," Nat said

"Don't see how we can," Cap replied.

"These guys come from legend, they're basically gods," Nat argued.

"There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that," Cap replied before jumping out the quinjet, leaving A.J. with no choice but to follow.

The wind stole her breath the second she left shelter. She felt as if she was somewhere between flying, falling, and floating in the darkness as her eyes searched for Cap. He was about 500 yards below her and to her right. She streamlined her body, trying to catch up to him a bit, her hair flying into her eyes. Soon she could make out the ground hurtling towards her, but she refrained from opening her chute until she saw Cap open his. Her landing wasn't especially graceful, but she was thankful to have solid ground beneath her as she shrugged off her chute.

"You good?" Cap asked her, and she nodded as she regained her breath. "Come on. We have to catch up to the others."

"They'll be fighting," she told him as she jogged beside him. "Tony and Thor."

"Stark does little else," Cap said, almost joking, but it struck A.J. hard – she had seen the trailers for Civil War.

"You should try to be better friends with him, Steve," she said quietly. "He has good qualities."

He glanced down at her, a curious look in his eye. "What is it, A.J.? What do you know?"

"Not now," she shook her head.

They were getting close now, they could hear the sounds of the fight. Trees breaking, cracking, toppling, grunts, surges of electricity; all sounded from within the confines of the newly formed clearing. A.J. glanced up along the cliffs, scanning for Loki. She knew he wouldn't have gone anywhere, as long as plan was still to bring down the helicarrier, but it couldn't hurt to check. There he was, a shadowy silhouette in the darkness, watching the scene unfold. She could almost see his grin from where she stood. Finally, Cap's shield hit both combatants and rebounded to him.

"That's enough!" he shouted and jumped down from the uprooted tree he had been standing on. He began by addressing Thor.

"So I don't know what you plan on doing here-"

"I have come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!" Thor boomed.

"Then prove it," Cap challenged him. "Put the hammer down."

"Yeah, no, bad call. He loves his ham-" Tony argued before being thrown backwards by said hammer.

"You want me to put the hammer down?!" Thor yelled, jumping up for a hit. Cap blocked it with his shield just as A.J. remembered, but the ensuing reverberation was way more powerful when actually felt as opposed to being watched on a tv.

"Are we done here?" Cap asked after he climbed to his feet.

"A.J., are you ok?" Tony asked her, leaning down to help her up, but she only groaned.

"Let's not do that again, ok? That seriously hurt. I can't tell you how many times I've seen that happen, but feeling it? Really not fun."

"So what is your gift, exactly? You said it's not clairvoyance," Stark insisted.

"It's complicated," A.J. panted, holding her side. "Besides, we need to get Loki back to the helicarrier."

"Right, where is Norman Bates anyway?"

At that moment, the quinjet landed a few yards away, Loki already inside. The four of them climbed in, A.J. last.

"You ok, kid?" Nat said as soon as she saw her.

"Yeah, but somebody ought to note that vibranium and anti-matter or whatever the heck that hammer is made of do _not_ mix."


	3. Chapter 3

Thankfully, the flight back to the ship was quiet; A.J. even managed to get an hour or so of sleep. As she was drifting off, she was slightly worried that she would wake up back home. However, she woke up instead to Nat gently shaking her, reassuring her it had not been just a dream. She hurried to join Fury in the detention chamber as requested, getting there just as the compartment door locked into place

"In case it's unclear," Fury explained, "you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass: it's 30,000 feet, straight down in a steel trap," Fury was saying. "You get how this works? Ant…boot."

"It's an impressive cage," Loki raised his hands in mock surrender. "Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury returned.

"Oh, I've heard," Loki purred, glancing to the camera. "A mindless beast; makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you? That you let them roam near such important weapons as that girl of yours." Here he looked directly at her, but she refused to be intimidated. "Had I such a wealth of information at my fingertips, I would certainly protect it better."

"A.J. can handle herself. And you? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh," Loki mocked. "It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is."

"Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something," Fury scoffed as he walked away, A.J. in tow.

The next hour or so she spent rehashing everything that had happened in Stuttgart as well as almost everything she could remember that was about to happen with the director. Fury listened mostly, asking questions here and there to clarify. When she was finally released, it was almost sunrise, and she decided to go down to the lab.

"Hey Tony, hey Bruce," she said, strolling in and hopping up on a counter.

"A.J.!" Tony greeted her. "Bruce told me about your whole interdimensional travel thing – totally awesome. You really have no idea how it happened?"

"None whatsoever," A.J. replied. "Which, may come back to bite me later when I want to get home. Anyway, how goes your search for answers for what Fury was really doing with the Cube?"

"Jarvis has been working on it for a while now. Of course, you could always just tell me."

"Where's the fun in that? Besides, you could use the proof. And I think you already know."

"Yeah, you're right. You got any advice for the next four years of my life?"

A.J. immediately thought of the ending of Iron Man 3. "Don't make promises you can't keep, especially to important people in your life like Pepper. And Bruce?"

"Yeah?" he looked up from his work, surprised.

"You get a Dumbledore quote: Light can be found in the darkest of places, if one only remembers to turn on the light."

"Thanks," he said, obviously confused.

"So, has Steve shown up yet?" A.J. asked.

"Who, the guy with an icicle still up his-"

"Tony, be nice. You have to realize, it was the '40's two weeks ago for him," A.J. reprimanded.

"Still, he is extremely uptight," Tony remarked, but A.J. just laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Fans, that's what. There are people in my universe who ship Stony."

"What, like-? That's-?" Tony seemed to have lost his ability to finish sentences, making A.J. laugh more. "Well, who do they ship Bruce with?"

"Mm! Actually, Bruce is half of my OTP, but I can't tell you the other half. You'll see."

"Oh, come on," Tony whined, sitting down next to her. "You can tell me."

"No way," A.J. laughed. "Not happening. You are probably the worst Avenger at keeping a secret."

Fury chose that moment to walk in. "What are you doing, Mr. Stark?"

"Uh, kinda been wondering the same about you."

"You're supposed to be locating the tesseract."

"We are," Bruce broke in. "The model's locked, and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

"Yeah, then you get your Cube back. No muss, no fuss," Tony said with a glance to A.J., who simply shrugged. "What is Phase 2?"

As A.J. recognized what point in the movie they had reached, Steve banged a gun down on a table. "Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons. Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean we're-"

"I'm sorry, Nick," Tony interrupted, twisting the screen around. "What were you lying?"

The director's hard gaze turned to A.J. "And you failed to tell me about them finding out because?"

"Because they deserve to know. And Tesseract-powered weapons are not something humans can handle right now."

"I was wrong, director," Steve agreed. "The world hasn't changed a bit."

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked Natasha as soon as she walked in, making A.J.'s inner shipper fangirl hard.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" she asked.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

"Loki is manipulating you," Nat stated calmly.

"And you've been doing what, exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Because of him," Fury said, pointing to Thor, who seemed taken aback.

"Me?"

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned not only are we not alone in the universe, but we are hopelessly – hilariously – outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor argued.

"But you're not the only world out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, who can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the Cube?" Cap scoffed.

"Steve's right. Any weapon you make at this point is essentially up for grabs," A.J. agreed, worried about Hydra.

"What does that mean?" Fury asked, examining her.

"It means you don't know who you can trust," she replied sharply.

"Watch your tone, young lady," he warned.

"What are you, my dad?"

"No, but I'm not someone you want to make an enemy out of. You have quite a bit of power here, Keller, you're going to want to make sure you know what you're doing with it."

"I'm helping others – what are you doing with yours?"

"You ought to listen to them," Thor advised. "Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" Steve questioned.

"You forced our hand," Fury argued. "We had to come up with something."

"A nuclear deterrent. Because that always calms everything right down," Tony joked without a smile.

"Remind you again how you made your fortune, Stark," Fury sneered.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons," Steve began, "Stark would be neck-deep-"

"Hold on. How is this now about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

"Guys, please," A.J. tried to cut in, taking a step closer.

"Not now, kid," Tony verbally brushed her aside.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor observed.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury argued, and, a moment later, everyone was talking over each other.

"Can we please focus on the issue at hand?" A.J. asked, but no one seemed to hear her. So she waited quietly, worry mounting in her gut as the argument grew louder until Bruce's was the only voice remaining.

"What are we, a team? No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb."

"You need to step away," Fury ordered.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked.

"You know damn well why. Back off," Steve raised his voice.

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me," Tony said, stepping up.

"Ok, can we all just take a step back and cool off? You guys are going to want this energy later," A.J. tried to warn, but they just ignored her.

"Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," Tony responded immediately.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire."

"Always a way out," Steve chuckled. "You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds."

"You people are so petty," Thor laughed, "and tiny."

"Oh, like you were different not so long ago," A.J. pointed out angrily.

"Well, would you look at that; she can get riled up," Tony smiled.

"If it's worth it, always," she replied.

"Agent Romanoff," Fury began, "will you escort Dr. Banner back to his-"

"Where? You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case-"

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried. I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to how I stay calm?"

"Dr. Banner," Steve interrupted him, "put down the scepter."

At last, the model alarm went off for the location of the Tesseract, and Bruce put the scepter back on the counter.

"Sorry, kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all," he said as he crossed the room.

"You located the Tesseract?" Thor asked.

"I can get there fastest," Tony noted.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it," Thor instructed.

"You're not going alone," Steve said, grabbing Tony's arm.

"You're gonna stop me?" Tony batted his hand away.

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit."

At that moment, despite A.J.'s warnings to Fury, Hawkeye hit one of the engines, knocking everyone to the floor and Bruce and Natasha past it. Steve and Tony ran off to help with the damage, Thor to check on Loki.

"I thought you put up extra security measures!" A.J. called to Fury.

"I did!" he yelled back, running off to the bridge, leaving A.J. alone. As she glanced around her, her eyes caught sight of the scepter lying on the floor. Realizing that Loki knew where it was, she grabbed it and hurried back to the compartment she had first woken up in.


	4. Chapter 4

A.J. waited silently as the battle raged on around her. She could hear the Hulk's roars echoing in the distance and explosions coming from the direction of the bridge. Occasionally, footsteps would run past her in the hallway outside the compartment. Occasionally, her hand would tighten on the scepter next to her on the bed where she sat. As the minutes ticked by, she wondered what was happening; whether or not Nat had fought and saved Barton yet, if Thor was still fighting the Hulk, if Loki was out. It was the last one that really worried her, even though she knew that there was practically no chance of him finding her. She was certain of this, at least until the god himself walked through her door.

She scrambled to her feet, scepter in hand, as they regarded each other. Loki seemed mildly surprised to see her, as well as curious, probably as to what she would do next. So she attacked: she tightened her grip on the scepter and stretched it forward, preparing to pull back and fire. But Loki was too fast for her. He stepped forward and grabbed the scepter, pulling it and her to him. She stumbled with a yelp as his arms wrapped around her, pinning her to his chest.

"I'll be taking this with me, if you don't mind," he grinned, his voice sultry and mocking. "Well," he amended, his right hand coming up to play with her hair, "maybe I'll be taking you, too."

She didn't realize that he had knocked her out until she woke up. She was alone in a spacious bedroom, lying on a sky blue bed. There were two doors – one across from her, one to her left. To her right, a window spread across the length of the wall. She hopped up quickly, first checking the door across from her: it opened into a bathroom. The other door was locked. A.J. glanced around, trying find a way to open it, when the window caught her eye again. Taking a step closer, she realized that she recognized the New York City skyline. She must be in Stark Tower.

"There's something indescribably appealing about a fair maiden a tower, don't you think," Loki's smooth voice spoke from her, but she refused to turn around.

"I'm no princess," she retorted.

"Certainly not dressed like that," he agreed as a green light danced across her skin, changing her simple clothes into a beautiful, off the shoulder dark green dress and golden bangles on her wrists. Then she turned to face him.

"If I am the damsel in distress, then are you the dragon keeping me captive?"

"Perhaps," he smirked. "Who shall be your gallant white knight, then? My brother?"

"Thor has Jane. Besides, he isn't my type."

"The soldier, then?"

"Steve? No, that really wouldn't work. And before you suggest it, Tony also has a girlfriend, and Bruce is destined for someone else."

"You couldn't be more right," he grinned, stepping closer and running his fingers down her arm, "No one is coming to save you."

"Then I'll have to save myself."

"And how will you manage that?" he laughed, and she turned back to the window, frustrated. Mind racing, she reviewed her options: she could fight, but she had no hope of overpowering him; she could try to outwit him, but he was the Trickster. So what did she have that he didn't? Knowledge. She took a moment to steady her breathing. She knew what she needed to do.

"Loki," she said quietly, turning around to look him in the eye. "Loki, I need you to listen to me. You need to stop this. This path that you're on, it will bring you nothing but pain."

"What?"

"You know that I have a – a gift. That I know things that I shouldn't be able to know. Well, one of those things I know is you. I have seen you as an infant, and I have seen you take your final breath. I have seen you with the Other. I know Thanos gave you the scepter. I have watched you try to destroy your brother in so many ways. I have watched you fight against the man who took you in. I have seen you with your mother, Loki. I have seen the love you still have for her. And I know she will never stop loving you, until the day she dies. So please, Loki, I beg of you, for her sake and for yours, go home. Go back to your family while you still can. You have a gift, too, Loki, even though you don't see it. Your gift – the gift of a family – is far greater than mine, Loki. Go home. While you still can."

Loki just stared at her for a second, completely in shock. Then she found herself on the floor, pain reverberating through her left cheek and jaw. He grabbed her hair and pulled her up to standing, ignoring her cries of pain.

"You know nothing," he hissed. "You have seen nothing but lies. You know nothing." And with that, he released her and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. She heard him yelling something at her guard as she fought back tears. A battle she lost when the Battle of New York started, and screams and explosions echoed beneath her. She had had her chance to stop this, to stop him, and she had failed.

Fear mingled with her grief as the destruction continued. Just how badly had she failed? Did she anger Loki enough to keep him from losing? Had she doomed her world to slavery under a psychotic tyrant?

Through all her doubt, however, it never once crossed her mind that she might be wrong about Loki. If anything, his reaction proved to her that she was right. The bruise forming on her face reminded her of that. If he did succeed, she would have another chance to remind him that there was still hope for him, even if he did not believe it. As the screams of the dying resounded in her ears and tears filled her eyes, she determined to constantly remind him, until his stubbornness broke down or he killed her.

Hours passed, but the city never quieted. Explosions eventually faded into sirens, and the screams of fear into cries of pain and grief, but A.J. did not know who had won – at least not until Nat threw open the door. A.J. ran across the room to embrace her new friend.

"Are you ok?" Nat asked, pulling away after a moment to examine the side of her face.

"I'm fine," the younger woman replied, smiling. "I'm just glad to see you again. I was so scared, Nat, that I had messed things up, that Loki would somehow win-"

"Hey," Nat interrupted her, "don't think about it anymore. We got him, and Thor will take him back to Asgard. In the meantime, we have a victory to celebrate."

"I know," A.J. grinned. "Tony wants Shwarma."

A/N:

So what do you guys think? Should I write more? Constructive criticism always welcome.


End file.
